Foretold
by TheAmbitiousWriter
Summary: After Ed misses a train on what should have been a routine inspection of a backwater village, he discovers a sinister plot about to unfold. But what secret is this village hiding? And what is this prophecy that seems to be about him?
1. Chapter 1

WARNING: I don't know what I'm is my first ever attempt at an FMA fic, so I don't have much of a plot in mind... the story goes where it goes... but somehow I end up with oodles of plot anyway. So again: I do not know what I am doing.

Ed: That sounds dangerous.

Me: Yeah, well…

Ed: By the way, TheAmbitiousWriter doesn't own me or Al or anyone except for Kara, Kai, and their messed-up family.

Me: HEY! Don't sneak the disclaimer in without my permission! And who are you to talk about messed-up families?

Ed: *sniffle*

Me: Oops…

Chapter I

"So… so hungry…" Edward moaned, dragging himself through the sand. "I can't remember the last time I ate… and it's so hooooot…"

"Brother, you ate this morning," Alphonse replied, a hint of amusement in his metallic voice.

"But that was this morning! And now it's…" He squinted up, trying to discern where the sun was in the sky. "Afternoon?"

"Close. Soon it'll be evening."

"Evening?! Awww…"

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Ed could _swear_ that his brother was doing all he could not to laugh. If he had a mouth, he would already be smiling ear to ear.

After shaking the sand out of his automail yet _again,_ Edward abandoned the little pride he had left and asked Al to carry him.

" _Carry_ you?" his little brother asked incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"C'mon, Al, I'm so _hot!_ My automail is positively _cooking_ me, and it keeps getting sand in it!"

"You think _you've_ got a problem? I've gotten buried at least eight times now, brother!" They glared at each other for a few seconds before neither could stand it anymore and they both burst out laughing. "I'll carry you if you want me to, brother, but the town is right over there."

"No thanks, that's okay," Ed responded, picking up speed. If they didn't want to miss the train, they should probably hurry up… In a backwater village like this, the next one wouldn't come for a day and a half…

"Hurry up, Alphonse!" he called over his shoulder. "The train!"

"Oh, right!" Once the younger brother started off, Ed soon found himself rather far behind.

"Geez, Al! I didn't say leave me in the dust!" He was beginning to tire. At least Al didn't have to worry about that. But it was a nuisance at times… like now, for instance...

A loud blast of sound interrupted his thoughts. _The train!_ If he hadn't been going quite as fast as he could before, now he was definitely running at top speed. He spotted the train station… there was Al, already on board… the train was pulling out…

"Faster, brother!" yelled Alphonse. "Hurry!" Ed was almost to the caboose now. He swung his suitcase up over the rail. Then, just as he ran out of platform, he leapt for the train, hand reaching out to grasp his brother's.

 _Thud._

What happened? Was he on the train? Who was yelling? As his scattered thoughts collected themselves, Ed realised it was his brother who was yelling. He picked himself up off the pavement (ouch) and looked up to see the train speeding away. Al already had one leg over the rail, preparing to jump off.

"No! Stay on the train!" Ed yelled, uncertain whether Al could hear him or not. "Tell Mustang why I'm late and give him the report I wrote up! If he doesn't get it he'll do something _seriously sadistic_ to me!" The wind carried away most of Al's reply, but Ed got the gist of it.

" _...ure...kay...other?_ "

"I'll catch the next train!" Ed shouted back, but the train was too far away for his brother to hear. The stranded alchemist sighed, and turned to go back into town to look for a place to stay.

That's when he realised his money was in his suitcase.

And Al had his suitcase…

Holy Hydrogen, why did these things always happen to _him?_

oOo

It didn't take long for Ed to figure out something was wrong. The streets were empty. He'd attributed this to the time of day, but he didn't even see parents calling their children in for dinner.

It was completely empty. No sign of life… anywhere. A ghost town.

"Okay, _now_ I'm freaked out," he murmured. "Where is everyone?" Suddenly, Ed spotted a flash of colour out of the corner of his eye. He froze for a moment, then dashed after the rapidly retreating figure. "Hey! _Wait!_ " he yelled. He sprinted around a corner and nearly crashed into a terrified-looking woman.

The alley she'd run into was a dead-end, and she obviously felt cornered. Though why exactly she was afraid of _him_ , Edward had no idea.

"Why are you running?" he inquired, putting up both hands with the palms facing her and stepping back so she knew he wasn't going to hurt her.

Instead of answering, she sobbed and fell to her knees. "It's _you_ …" she whispered fearfully. "The Xerxian with golden hair and eyes! Just like the prophecy said…"

"Huh? _Xerxian?_ " As far as Ed knew, Xerxes and its people were long gone. And besides, there were loads of people with… well… actually, now that he thought about, though many Amestrians had blond hair, he'd never met anyone else with golden eyes like him and Alphonse. He turned his attention back to the woman, who was now whispering something.

" _The man with eyes and hair of gold, Like that of great Xerxes of old…_ " She started crying. "Please don't kill me!"

"Woah! I'm not gonna kill you! I just missed my train and I need a place to stay tonight…" He never finished, due to the fact the the woman had taken his distractedness as an opportunity to get the heck out of there. Ed sighed.

"Just my luck. I get stuck in a town where apparently everyone thinks I'm trying to kill them." His eyebrow twitched. "And somehow I get the feeling that's not going to be the worst thing that happens while I'm here…"

oOo

Riza Hawkeye was having her day off. Meaning, of course, that Roy Mustang was getting no work done whatsoever. Unless you counted trying to prank-call Major Armstrong (which ended badly) or building a mini-fortress out of the paperwork he was supposed to be doing, until it collapsed and scared Breda out of his wits. The Colonel was startled by a sudden knock at the door; he quickly rearranged his paperwork so it looked like he was _doing_ it instead of _playing_ with it and called, "Come in!".

He was a little surprised to see Alphonse, carrying Ed's suitcase and looking rather anxious. "Alphonse? Where's your brother? Did something happen to Fullmetal?"

"Oh, um, no. He just missed the train."

"And you managed to catch said train, without him?" Roy frowned. "Where is he?"

"A village called Kaladuen, near the eastern desert."

"Huh? I've never heard of that village."

"It's pretty tiny… it's really only known for the train station there, which is the only one that close to the desert. In fact, the village is technically located _in_ the desert."

"That would explain it." Roy sighed. "And I suppose this means he'll be late with his report… I wonder what I can make him do this time…" A smirk spread across the Colonel's face. "Admit his shortness in front of everyone?"

"Ah! Wait! I have his report here!" Al pulled a rather crinkled piece of paper out of Ed's suitcase. "He told me to give it to you for him…" Roy's face drooped. Was he _disappointed?_ Al shuddered. How sadistic _was_ he, anyway?

"Alright… I guess I owe Lieutenant Hawkeye a hundred cenz… drat…"

"You bet on when Brother would get his report in?!"

"Um. No." Roy hastily changed the subject. "Do you mind if I ask… is it hard to try and keep up with Fullmetal? I mean, the kid's always doing crazy stuff… Became a state alchemist at _twelve_ , little though he was…" There was a gap in the conversation as both instinctively paused for Ed's rant about how he was _not_ little and Colonel Bastard better shut his face before he got his butt kicked right through the paperwork he was supposed to be doing.

"Well, I guess it's always been like that," Alphonse replied. "Brother's always going as fast as he can, towards whatever objective he has in mind. When we were kids, it was getting our mother back, and now it's finding the Philosopher's Stone. He doesn't _need_ two legs to run. Even with no legs, he'd keep pushing forward, faster than anyone… and I'm perfectly happy to follow along behind him," he added humbly. "That's how I learned to pay so much attention to details. Brother is always working so hard, going so fast that it's easy for him to miss things. The little things, the things you don't notice unless you're going slow enough. That's why I follow him at my slower pace… When he misses things, I can show them to him once he finally slows down." Al chuckled. "Wow, I didn't mean to get so metaphorical on you. Sorry, Colonel."

"That's quite alright, Alphonse. Out of interest, when will Fullmetal likely make it back?"

"Maybe… two days?"

"Two days?" He beckoned to Havoc. "Make sure Lieutenant Hawkeye doesn't come in tomorrow and we're golden!"

"Uh… golden for what?"

"Trust me, Alphonse," Havoc said seriously. "You do not want to know."

oOo

"Aaaaand now it's raining. In the desert. How often does that happen?" Edward glanced up at the grey clouds above him, succeeding only in getting his face wet. "The Truth must really hate me." He pulled his soaked red coat tighter around himself, shivering. Who knew the desert got so _cold_ at night?

The moon shone dimly through the rain-clouds, illuminating everything with a sort of dirty grey light. The entire village looked like a monotone, grey, rainy blur. The only spot of colour was Edward, his red jacket and bright gold hair a stark contrast to the dark, colourless streets.

As the rain began to come down harder, Ed sighed and got to his feet. With a quick clap of his hands, he easily transmuted a small shelter from the rain using the wall next to him. However, the desert wind blew the rain in all directions, rendering the shelter rather useless.

The light from the alchemical reaction did not go unnoticed. Many faces appeared at windows only gasp in terror and duck down out of sight. This still befuddled Ed; he didn't think he looked like much of a threat, huddled out here in the cold and rain. With his luck, he'd probably get hypothermia and die.

His stomach rumbled loudly and he slumped against the wall, depressed. He'd tried to keep from thinking about his gnawing hunger by distracting his brain with other thoughts― Alphonse, Resembool, the Periodic Table of Elements― but at this point, the only thing going through his head was FOOOOOOD.

Which is why he thought he imagined the chunk of bread that hit him in the face.

"What the…" He hastily snatched the food off the ground so it wouldn't get too wet, looking around for who threw it. He didn't see anyone. Movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention, and he turned to see a little boy, about ten, hiding behind a corner.

"Thanks!" he called out, but the boy started and ran off, terrified. "Okay? Was that, like, some kind of special bread attack? 'Cos bread is nowhere near as good of ammunition as Al's head is…"

After devouring the bread in a few ravenous bites, Ed curled up under his makeshift shelter and slipped into a fitful sleep.

oOo

"Mister Alchemist? Hey, wake up, Mister Alchemist!" Ed felt someone shaking him. Still half-asleep, he groaned and turned over.

"Whaddya want Al…" he muttered tiredly. "M'asleep." He opened his golden eyes just a sliver, trying to remember where he was. As he caught sight of the person who had awoken him, recognition dawned on his face. "It's you! The one who threw that bread at me!"

The boy nodded, looking frightened. "Mister Alchemist, you need to get out of here… Please hurry!"

"Huh? Why? I can't leave until my train gets here."

"If you leave, then the prophecy won't come true and then nobody has to die!" The boy sniffed, on the verge of tears.

"I-I don't… I don't understand," Ed stammered. "What's this prophecy? Why is everyone so afraid of me?"

"Please, Mister Alchemist! My father said he was going to…" The boy choked back a sob. "I don't want anyone to die!" He looked solemnly up at Edward.

"I… When's the next train?"

"There's a cargo train leaving really soon! You can leave on that, right, Mister Alchemist?"

"You can just call me Ed. And thanks," he added, running for the train station.

"You're welcome, Mister Ed!" the boy called, waving. Edward smiled a little to himself.

He managed to clamber on board one of the cars just as the train pulled out. Settling back against a stack of hay, he pondered the strangeness of the village he had just left. What was this prophecy? Did it really refer to him? Ten minutes later found him still trying to solve the village's mystery. The thoughts in his brain just kept spiralling in a huge circle… He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and tried to find a more comfortable position in the hay.

Without warning, the car jerked violently and Ed's ears were blasted with the sound of something exploding. He leapt to his feet, but a second explosion tipped the car so suddenly that he was thrown through the air. He glimpsed fire and twisted metal, then there was a noise and someone was _screaming_ , and why did his leg hurt so much? Quite suddenly, something struck the back of his head and he blacked out.

oOo

Hohenheim was extremely disconcerted. He'd woken up with a very odd feeling and he couldn't shake the sense that something was amiss. He felt like he'd forgotten something important.

Distracted, the man missed his footing and tumbled right into someone. "Oh! I'm so sorry, miss…"

"That's quite alright," replied the blond woman good-naturedly. She glanced up at his face and looked startled for a moment, brown eyes widening. Then she shook her head disbelievingly and smiled.

"Something wrong?"

"No, you just look like someone I know. That's all," she explained. "It's your eyes."

"My eyes?" Hohenheim was a little taken aback. His golden hair and eyes were traits of the Xerxians, gone extinct long, long ago. He'd never, not in all his time wandering Amestris and the surrounding countries, met anyone else with eyes like his.

Unless… "Might that someone be named Edward or Alphonse?" he inquired. The woman looked startled.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Edward Elric." The man smiled wistfully. _So they go by their mother's last name…_ The thought of Trisha made him morose, so he turned back to the woman.

"Next time you see him, you ought to compliment those eyes of his. After all, they're not exactly common." Hohenheim turned to leave.

"Might I ask how you know Edward?" the woman questioned curiously.

"I'm his father."

" _I'm his father._ " The words rang in Riza's ears. How was that possible? She dropped her bag of groceries. His father… Ed had never even mentioned his father before, so Riza had automatically assumed… She snapped back to the present, calling after the blond-haired man.

"Wait―!" She stared at the street in front of her.

He had disappeared.

oOo

Al stood among the crowd of people at the train station, watching those who were getting off the train. Many of them shot him strange looks as they passed, but he paid them no heed. He was used to it by now.

After the flood of departing passengers slowed to a trickle, and there was still no sign of Ed, Alphonse began to worry. Surely nothing had happened? What could have caused him to miss the train a second time?

The last person disembarked and Ed was nowhere to be seen. Al searched the crowd futilely for his brother, still clinging to a shred of hope…

"Alphonse?" He whirled to see who had spoken. It was not in fact, Edward; instead, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes stood in front of him.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Hughes," Al greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I was looking for you."

"For me? Why?"

"There's some news I think you should hear…" The Lieutenant Colonel pushed up his glasses. "There was a cargo train that passed through the village of Kaladuen yesterday. It's quite possible Edward tried to catch a lift to Central on that train."

"Really? In that case…"

"Alphonse." Mr. Hughes looked despondently at the huge suit of armour over the top of his glasses. "I'm sorry, but…"

Al felt the response coming, but he just couldn't believe it. There was no way…

"The train was blown up while crossing a gorge. There's very little chance he survived… I'm afraid your brother is dead."

oOo

Me: DUN DUN DUN! And so I end another chapter.

Ed: What the heck?! You killed me off?! So cruel!

Me: You might not be dead. You might just be severely injured.

Ed: *sarcastically* Oh, thanks. That's so much better.

Al: Brother, don't try to argue with TheAmbitiousWriter. They control the story and they could easily do some pretty terrible things to you.

Ed: Nothing more terrible than they've done already!

Me: Care to put that to the test? *smirk*

Al: RUN FOR IT BROTHER!

Ed: Don't have to tell me twice!


	2. Chapter 2

What's this? Two updates in two days? I'm on fire! Don't expect this often, though! And thanks to those who reviewed!

To **The Mirror Above the Sink** : Sorry... I'm kind of a cliffhanger demon... :P

To **Brenne** : Good questions! All in due time, my lovely reviewer!

Ed: THEAMBITIOUSWRITEROWNSNOTHING-

Me: *hits Ed over the head with wrench*

Al: -Except Kara, Kai and their family!

Me: *hits Al over the head with wrench*

Chapter II

"Owwww… Exploding is _not_ fun," Ed groaned as he came to. "Everything hurts…" He tried to get up, only to be met with a piercing pain in his right leg. A small gasp of pain escaped his lips. "What the heck happened to me?" he wondered.

Edward glanced back and almost yelled outright. A huge pile of rubble and twisted metal lay on top of his legs, pinning him. He was lucky to have not been completely squished. "Glad I'm not a Fullmetal Pancake," he muttered. He tried to wriggle out from underneath the huge mass of rocks, succeeding only in making white-hot threads of pain shoot up his leg.

"I'm-I'm stuck? Oh, that's just great…" He trailed off as he saw someone coming toward him. "Who…" Ed squinted. Was that who he thought it was?

"Mister Ed! Mister Ed!"

"It's you again," he growled at the young boy. "You got me on that train on purpose, didn't you?"

"No! I-I swear, I didn't know what…" The boy broke off, sobbing. "I didn't know he rigged the tracks! He didn't tell me, honest!"

"Who?"

"M-My father…" Ed looked up at the boy's tear-stained face and believed him.

"Fine, then can you get these rocks off of me?"

"M-Me?"

"Yeah. Look, just draw a circle like this…" Edward traced a circle in the dirt, then made a square inside it. "Do that, only on the rocks. I would do it, only I can't reach…" He sighed. Not needing a transmutation circle didn't do him much good when he couldn't even reach the thing he wanted to transmute.

"With what?" Ed groaned inwardly. He never carried chalk around with him anymore, seeing as he didn't need it.

"Uh… anything. It doesn't matter as long as it's clear enough." The boy obediently copied Edward's circle using mud from the landslide. It took him a few tries to get it right, but once he had successfully made his many ellipsoids into a perfect circle, he grinned triumphantly.

"There!"

"Okay, now put your hand on the circle… Think about what the rocks are made of: this looks like granite, so silicon, oxygen… Now just split those elements apart." The mound of earth trembled. Putting all his effort into it, the boy tried again. This time, the largest stone split down the middle, effectively destroying the pile of rubble and freeing Ed.

"I did it!" the boy cheered. "Now I'm an alchemist just like you!"

"Um… yeah," Ed replied noncommittally. In truth, earth alchemy was the easiest type to perform, and furthermore, deconstruction of elements was so simple even a certain serial killer could manage it (cough Scar cough cough). But Ed didn't want to spoil the boy's happiness. Instead, he tried once more to get to his feet.

His feet didn't like that.

Spots of red pain swam before his eyes and he fell back to the ground, gasping. Craning his neck to get a better look at his automail, he was horrified to see that the metal of his left leg was twisted and bent, and half of it wasn't even there.

"Oh, no," he panted. "No, no no… Winry's gonna _kill_ me." His other leg probably wasn't in good shape either. Being in an explosion, falling into a gorge and being squished by rocks tended to not put you in the best health. He glanced over.

As soon as he saw the mess that was his right leg, Ed realised just how much pain he was in. He yelled and clenched his fists in an effort to control the panic coursing through him.

"Mister… Mister Ed?" The boy sounded past the point of anxious now. "What should I…"

"Dammit!" Edward shouted. "I am _not_ gonna die…" He was starting to get dizzy from blood loss, and shouted a few more things that he probably shouldn't have in front of the child. As his vision grew blurry, he felt the boy trying to lift him, most likely wanting to move him somewhere where he could get some medical help, but the ten-year-old just didn't have the strength to lift a fifteen-year-old with two metal limbs. He could almost manage, though… Through the haze of pain, an idea struck Ed.

"Listen," he said quietly, "take off my leg…"

"Huh?"

"My left one. It's automail, didn't you notice?" The boy nodded timidly. "It's useless to me the way it is now and it'll just weigh me down. If you take it off, you can probably move me… and find a doctor…"

The boy gently set him down and grasped the mangled prosthetic. With a little effort, he started to pull it out of the socket― the nerve connections jostled― someone _screamed_ … Pain slammed over Edward like a red wave, he couldn't see, the only thing he felt was _pain_ … Who the hell was screaming? Why… As he slipped into the blackness of unconsciousness, he realised _he_ was the one screaming.

Then, nothing.

oOo

"Oh, my god," gasped Havoc. "Is that…"

"Havoc!" Hawkeye silenced him. She glanced over at Alphonse. The huge metal armour was so still that one might have thought it was not alive at all. The only sign of life were the glowing red lights of his eyes, which flickered with despair.

Colonel Mustang slowly pushed past the lieutenant, past the wreckage of the train and a pile of rocks and twisted metal, and fell to his knees. Trembling, he picked up the bloodstained automail leg.

"It's a left leg," he commented quietly. "Which one…"

"His left," Alphonse choked. "Ed's left was the one that…" He stopped, unable to get any more words out.

"Co-colonel―" Fuery called, voice breaking. "I've f-found…" Shaking, he turned to the others, and held up a red coat.

It was ripped to pieces and covered with darker red stains, but the insignia on the back was unmistakable. It was Edward's.

"No," Al whispered. "No, it can't be…"

"There's no body," Riza offered. "He might still be alive―"

"Dammit, Lieutenant, there could be twenty bodies that we'd never find under all this rubble!" the Colonel shouted suddenly. "If he somehow survived the explosion and the fall, _and_ managed to avoid getting buried in the wreckage, he wouldn't get very far without his _leg_ and about _half his blood!_ Fullmetal… Edward is _gone!_ "

"No!" yelled Alphonse. "No, he's not gone! He can't be! Brother always believed in me and now I believe in him! He's alive, and he's counting on us to find him!" Lieutenant Colonel Hughes placed a comforting hand on the armour's shoulder.

"You're right, Al. If Ed's alive, he's badly injured. He can't be too far from here…" He looked over at Mustang. "We have to find him. We at least owe it to him to try."

Hawkeye helped the Colonel to his feet, though he refused to let go of the leg. Slowly coming to his senses, he nodded.

"We… we'll find him, alright…" He looked down, lowering his voice to a mere whisper. "I just hope we're in time."

oOo

Kara idly stirred the stew, mind wandering. All a of sudden, the door crashed open, revealing her brother, panting hard, covered in blood and carrying an unconscious Xerxian. She screeched.

"K-Kai! What are you _doing_?!"

"He would've died if I'd left him, sister!"

"But Kai, he's―"

"I don't care!" Kai continued to drag the limp form into the house. "Are you going to help me?"

"I-I―"

"Sister, please!"

"A-alright." Kara helped her brother lift the Xerxian onto the couch. "But if Father finds out about this…"

"Well, we just won't tell him." Kai smiled, showing his supreme naïveté. His sister sighed. It was easy to forget how young he was. He was only ten, after all, three years younger than she.

"Is that blood his?"

"Yeah. He was stuck under a pile of rocks. But he taught me alchemy and I got him out!"

"He taught you _what_ now?!"

"It was only a little," Kai admitted sheepishly. Kara let out a breath of relief― her little brother was troublesome enough without alchemy.

Just then, the Xerxian let out a loud groan. Kara snapped to attention and began wildly searching for something she could use as a bandage to stop the bleeding.

"Al… Alphonse…" he muttered deliriously.

"Kai, help me out here!" Kara shouted. "Unless you want him to die!" She started to bandage the Xerxian's leg. Kai tried to help, but he was so useless that she told him the best way he could help was by not doing anything. He sat off to the side, pouting.

Having finished with the right leg, Kara moved on to bandage the left. However, she suddenly noticed the absence of this particular limb. "OH MY GOD! KAI, WHERE IS HIS LEG?!"

"It's not there."

"Yes, I can see that!"

"I mean it never was there. He had a metal leg before, but it broke." Kara sighed yet again. At least she didn't have to deal with an injury on that scale.

"Ahh! The stew!" She hurried over to the stove just in time to prevent it from burning.

"Sister…" Kai's voice sounded apprehensive.

"What, Kai?"

"Father's coming up the street."

" _What?!_ " She abandoned the stew and grasped the unconscious Xerxian's arms, dragging him off the couch. "Again, Kai, a little help would be greatly appreciated!"

Apparently Kai's idea of 'help' was to open the door to the basement for her, then run around grabbing things and putting them right back where he found them, all while looking slightly panicked.

Kara carried the Xerxian down the stairs, threw a few pillows on the stone floor, and carefully laid him in the nook under the stairs. Her father almost never went down to the basement, but one could never be too cautious.

She zoomed back up the stairs, shut the door to the basement hurriedly, and practically threw herself onto the couch. Kai grabbed a book and started reading it. He failed to notice it was upside-down.

The door opened, and in walked the two children's father. Hardly sparing them a glance, he went immediately to his room. No _Hey, kids, how are you?_ No _I'm home, guys!_

Just the stone-cold silence. Like always. Like he had been ever since _she_ died.

Kara let her mind wander as she started to ladle out stew for the Xerxian when he woke up. _Is he really the one the prophecy spoke of? He can't be much older than I am!_ He was an alchemist, too. The prophecy had said nothing about that. An alchemist might be able to help this village… if the townsfolk weren't too stubborn to accept his help.

"Sister?"

"Yeah, Kai?"

"Um… There's something I should tell you…" He sounded hesitant, like he wasn't sure how she would react.

"What is it?"

"Father… he blew up the train… He's the one who did this to him." Kai gestured to the still form of the Xerxian.

"So it was him, huh." Kara shifted her gaze to the golden hair of the alchemist. Even if he was the one in the prophecy… her father had no right to _kill_ him! But the man had always taken the prophecy to heart… it was his stubbornness that had gotten Mom killed.

"Eat your stew, Kai," she said quietly. "It'll get cold."

A few hours passed peacefully, neither sibling saying a word. The moon shone down with force, painting the town in silver light almost as bright as day. Then, he at last stirred.

"Where… where am I? Who are you?" His eyes blinked open― gold. Kara had never seen gold eyes before. She had tried before to picture the Xerxian from the prophecy, but the eyes she imagined were hard and metallic, like coins. These eyes were bright and warm, full of fire.

"My name is Kara," she explained, "and you already know Kai, I think." She pointed to her brother, who was conked out on pile of blankets nearby.

"That's right… I was…" He held a hand to his forehead, disoriented. Kara noticed that his right hand was made of metal; how had she missed that?

"You lost a lot of blood. You probably shouldn't try to move too much yet." She nudged Kai and told him to go upstairs and heat up some stew. He complied, though not without complaint. Kara turned back to the Xerxian.

"Okay, let's get straight down to business. Are you the Xerxian from the prophecy?"

"Am I the who from the what now?" His confusion was evident and she sighed. Of course not.

"What's your name?"

"Edward. Edward Elric. You might have heard of me before, I'm a State Alchemist."

"Nope. Sorry." Edward looked disgruntled and she elaborated. "We don't get a lot of news from the rest of the country here, since we're pretty far away from everything." Kara hesitated. "Well… we are now. According to legend, this town used to be right on the outskirts of Xerxes. But now it's nothing but desert."

"What happened to Xerxes?"

"No-one knows. It's a complete mystery. Supposedly, it vanished in a single day, leaving nothing behind. And no-one to carry on its legacy." Subconsciously, she glanced up at Ed.

"So… if there are no Xerxians left, why does everyone think I am one?"

"You must be of Xerxian descent. All the people of Xerxes were said to have golden hair and eyes."

"But I… I'm from a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere! It's nowhere near here!"

"Did your mother or father have golden hair and eyes?"

His breath hitched. "Yes."

"Then you're probably a distant descendant of the people of Xerxes. Meaning that someone survived whatever destroyed Xerxes."

"Ooh! A centuries-old mystery!" Kai interjected, returning with stew. "That sounds like this really cool book I read―"

"Shaddup and gimme the stew," Ed said bluntly, whisking the bowl out of the boy's hands. Kai watched in awe as the alchemist downed the stew in minutes.

"Kai," Kara realised, barely able to contain her laughter, "You're going to need to heat up some more stew."

"A lot more stew," Ed added.

oOo

Me: Let's end the chapter here… I'm getting tired of writing.

Ed: What? No insane cliffhangers?

Me: Do you _want_ cliffhangers?

Al: Say no, Brother! Or they'll end the next chapter with something really awful!

Ed: Meh. I'm barely even reading this anymore.

Me: WHAT?! This story revolves around you!

Ed: You keep doing horrible stuff to me.

Me: I gave you stew…

Mustang: Hey, why am I not the main character?

Me: Because you're useless.

Mustang: *is hit in the head with the word 'useless'*

Me: Don't forget to revieeeeew!


	3. Chapter 3

Me: Ooh, look! A shiny new update for you guys!

Ed: Took you long enough.

Me: *hits Ed over the head with wrench*

Al: Brother!

Ed: Ughhh… TheAmbitiousWriter doesn't own us… Hiromu Arakawa does… *passes out*

Al: But TheAmbitiousWriter does own Kara and her family…

To **The Mirror Above the Sink** : I feel the same about stories that centre around OCs. So, mine are always merely side characters meant only to help the main characters out when they're in a pickle! And I'll answer any questions you have, as long as I can do so without spoiling anything! :D

To **Brenne** : Yep. Their father is just so mean... I gag every time I write for him... And you will just have to wait and see! Mwa ha ha! (though the answer is yes).

Chapter III

"EXCUSE ME MY GOOD SIR!" Sparkling, Major Armstrong hailed down a confused passerby and held up a beautifully rendered drawing of Edward. "Have you seen this boy, by any chance?"

The man shook his head and continued down the street, much faster than he had approached. Colonel Mustang sighed.

"Major, I appreciate your contribution of your drawing skills―"

"THEY HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE ARMSTRONG FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS!"

"...Yes… But you're scaring away the only people who might know where Fullmetal is. After all, this village is the last place we know he was." The Colonel snatched the sketch out of Major Armstrong's large hands and confidently strolled up to a young lady. "Excuse me, miss…"

"Yes?"

"Have you seen my subordinate, by any chance? I'm afraid he's missing."

"Oh, that's terrible…" He held up the drawing and she instantly paled. "I-I'm sorry! I haven't seen anyone like that! Goodbye!" She took off running, leaving the depressed Colonel behind.

"Who's scary, now?" asked Lieutenant Hawkeye, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"HER BEHAVIOUR WAS MOST SUSPICIOUS!" the Major shouted, stripping. Everyone took a few steps back.

"Indeed… I feel the need to investigate more," the Colonel commented, ignoring Major Armstrong's antics.

"Don't worry, Brother," Alphonse whispered. "We're coming."

"Yeah," Falman added, placing a hand on the armour's shoulder. "We got this, Alphonse. Ed'll be home in no time."

Alphonse? Kai blinked. He'd heard that name before… From Edward! Of course! He crept closer to the group of people dressed in blue. Maybe Ed's friends would know something about the prophecy!

He had to find out… not only for the village's sake, but for Ed's as well.

oOo

Kara was worried. Yesterday she had discovered that Ed had a fever. Contrary to his insistence that he was fine, she had forced him to rest most of the day.

But the next day, he woke up sweating and delirious, and his fever was even higher. Kara wasn't sure what had gotten him so sick, but she knew it was bad. Currently, she was in the process of replacing the water-soaked towel on Ed's forehead.

"Water, thirty-five litres… carbon, twenty kilograms… ammonia, four litres…" he was mumbling. She wasn't even sure if he was completely conscious. "Lime, one point five kilograms… phosphorous, eight hundred grams…"

"Edward?" she called softly.

"Salt, two hundred and fifty grams… saltpetre, one hundred grams… sulphur, eighty grams…" Kara sighed deeply, placing the towel over the sick alchemist's eyes.

"You rest up, okay?"

"Fluorine, seven point five grams… iron, five grams… silicon, three grams…" Edward broke off, coughing. "Al… Alphonse…"

"I'll get you some water," she stated, and promptly left to do just that, not noticing her crafty brother sneaking out of the house right behind her.

Kara had next to no idea what the feverish Xerxian was saying, until she heard something that rang with familiarity.

"Pale white and black with false citrine… imperfect white and red… the peacock's feathers in bright colours…" Ed's voice sounded clearer than before. "The rainbow in the sky above… the spotted panther, the green lion, the crow's beak blue as lead…"

"These shall appear before you in perfect white," Kara finished breathlessly. "Where have I heard that before?" She thought hard.

 _Father_. Of course. Her father was the one, repeating it over and over again in the days after the death of her mother. But how did this young alchemist know it? And what exactly did it refer to?

oOo

"Um…" Al looked down to see a small boy, perhaps ten years old, tugging on his arm. "Is your name Alphonse, by any chance?"

"Actually, yes," Al replied, surprised. "Who are you?"

"My name's Kai," the boy said softly. "You're looking for Edward." It wasn't a question.

"Do you know where he is?"

"Follow me. But make it seem to the townsfolk like you're leaving, okay?" Kai darted off, stopping in the shadow of a building and waiting.

"Colonel?" Alphonse pulled Roy away from yet another girl he had frightened off. "I-I don't think Brother is here… we should leave."

"Leave? But you were the one who―" Lieutenant Hawkeye clapped her hand over Roy's mouth, effectively silencing him. "Of course, Alphonse," she said slyly, obviously having picked up on what was going on. "There's no point in looking anymore if we're sure he's not here."

Roy spluttered something incoherently as Riza dragged him along behind her. The townspeople watched the military personnel leave, varying expressions of relief on their faces.

oOo

When Kai got back to the house, the others close behind him, he noticed that his sister was absent. If he'd been thinking a bit more clearly, this would have worried him, as he knew that Kara wouldn't just leave Ed in this condition. But he was too preoccupied to see this.

"Brother!" Alphonse cried, pulling Edward into a hug.

"Al…?" His eyes blinked open. "You're… a little late…" Ed chuckled, but it quickly became a bout of coughing. "How long've I been here?"

"Four days."

"More than a little late, then." This earned a giggle from Fuery.

"Fullmetal, what the hell happened?" the Colonel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We heard the train blew up, then we found your leg…"

"My automail one, I hope." Fuery snickered at this. Breda shot him a glance, but the corners of his mouth were also turning up.

"Goddammit! Fullmetal!"

"Yeah, the train blew up," Ed continued, sensing the need to escape the Colonel's wrath. "I'm not really sure what happened, but when I woke up, my legs were pinned under some rocks. Kai managed to get me out―"

"I used alchemy!"

"―yeah, that. Don't ask," he said, quickly stopping Falman from interjecting. "My leg was pretty badly damaged― my automail one, I mean― so I had him pull it off. I passed out afterwards, though," he reflected, "and then I got a little bit sick…"

"A little bit?" asked Kai incredulously.

"Okay, a lot." Edward broke off, coughing. "And I'm still… kinda sick…" Al gave him a _what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you_ sort of look, and picked him up, bridal-style. "Hey! Put me down, I can walk!" protested the elder brother. Al obliged, and Ed looked content for about four seconds before he promptly fell over.

"I told you…" Ed silenced his brother with a look. Grudgingly, he allowed his sibling to carry him up the stairs.

They had almost made it to the top when the building exploded.

oOo

"WHAT THE HECK IS WITH ALL THE EXPLODING?!" shouted Edward, using his elbows to prop himself up. The dust cloud from the blast obscured most of his surroundings, and he could see no sign of his friends. Grunting with pain and effort, he tried to stand, but the endeavor was pointless without his leg. Not to mention the state his other leg was in.

"Hey, Al?" he called uncertainly. "Colonel? You still alive?" Ed coughed weakly into his hand. Of all times to get sick… He tried once again to get up, to at least make it to his knees (or knee, I guess), but he just didn't have the energy. Instead, he flopped over onto his side, still coughing.

His vision started to blur. Edward blinked a few times, but nothing would come into focus. He stared at his left arm, lying on the ground in front of his face. Was there supposed to be that much red? Was he bleeding? How much blood did a person have, anyway? He seemed to be losing a lot of it…. maybe he ought to be more worried… but he was so tired… why was it so cold…?

The Fullmetal Alchemist lay there, curled into a ball and shivering, hoping against hope that his friends would find him.

Riza blinked, slowly coming to her senses. She got to her feet, brushing off the dust and rubble from the explosion. "Colonel!" she yelled. "Ed! Al!" Receiving no response, she scouted out the remains of the house.

Not much was left. The blast had destroyed almost everything, and had taken out many of the neighbouring houses. In fact, Riza realised, she was lucky to be alive… and the others might not have been so lucky. Her searching became more frantic.

There. Under the collapsed staircase. A shred of blue fabric. She sprinted over and hastily hauled the rubble to the side. She glimpsed something. Black hair. Four gold stars lining the shoulder of an Amestrian military uniform.

And far too much red.

"Colonel!" she screamed, diving head-first into the wreckage. Riza wrapped her arms around Mustang's still form and pulled him to safety, heart in her mouth. She brushed the hair away from his face, flinching when her hand came away sticky and red.

Not losing her wits, the Lieutenant quickly checked his pulse, and let out a long breath of relief when she felt the steady throb under her fingers. "You're not dying on me yet, Colonel," she whispered. "I swear to God, if you die, I will personally drag your soul out of heaven and shoot you."

Riza ripped off part of her sleeve and used it to bandage some of the Colonel's wounds, slightly disconcerted by his lack of responsiveness. His wounds weren't _too_ terrible, nothing he hadn't survived before. Yet he was quite deeply unconscious.

Tying off the last knot, the Lieutenant carefully set Mustang against a part of the wall that had remained stable, and went to investigate the wreckage for any more of her comrades. She easily found Kai, Havoc, Breda, and Falman, and after a bit more searching, came across Major Armstrong, who had apparently shielded Fuery from the blast. Both were conscious, and she sent them back to look after the Colonel and the others.

"Edward?" she shouted, having yet to find either of the Elrics. "Alphonse?" Riza's foot suddenly struck metal. She cast her gaze to her feet, and instantly gasped in horror, covering her mouth with her hands. A metal gauntlet, all too familiar, lay twisted and broken on the ground. Hands shaking, she picked it up. There was no doubt who it belonged to.

"HELP!" A child-like voice rang out against the still air. Riza dashed toward it, ducking around the remnants of the houses. "Somebody… please!"

"I'm coming, Alphonse!" Riza yelled, practically flying around a corner. She skidded to a halt, eyes wide. Al was kneeling on the ground, missing an arm, shaking with emotion. Beneath him lay a pale, unmoving figure, golden eyes open, staring at nothing.

"It's Edward," sobbed Al. "He's not breathing!"

oOo

Roy slowly opened his eyes, blinking at the sudden light. He shifted positions, but pain immediately shot up his arm. A ripped piece of blue fabric was tied around a wound on his shoulder, but there were many other lacerations that were still bleeding. Luckily, they appeared to be superficial for the most part.

"Sir?" came a voice from his left. He turned slightly, hoping to see his faithful Lieutenant at his side. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of a nervous-looking Fuery and sparkling Major.

"What happened?" the Colonel rasped.

"Uh… Well, the house exploded," answered Fuery. "Lieutenant Hawkeye went off to look for the Elrics, I think… and Kai, Falman, Breda, and Havoc are still unconscious…" He cut off abruptly, looking startled as the ground began to shake.

"What the hell is that?!" Roy yelled, ignoring the pain in his shoulder as he scrambled to his feet. A noise like booming thunder reached their ears, accompanied by the smell of ozone that usually came with the practice of alchemy. It was like a storm without rain or clouds.

Without warning, bright purple light shot up from the ground, perhaps a kilometre away, just where the village gave way to sandy desert. Similar beams of light appeared at various points around the town. They curved up, over the tops of the houses, and met directly over the centre of the village, spitting purple crackles of electricity.

Colonel Roy Mustang stared upward.

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye stared downward.

And Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric stared straight ahead, at the Gates of Truth that stood before him.

oOo

Me: Wow… My cliffhangers are pretty awful. Sorry.

Al: *sniff* Is Brother… *sniff*... going to be alright?

Me: ….

Al: BROTHER NO

Me: Relax. I'm sure he'll be fine…

Ed: I see a bright light


	4. Chapter 4

So, uh, this is the last chapter I actually had pre-written, so the next one might take a little longer. Sorry. If you want, you guys can check out the one-shot I just wrote: The Adventures of a Tall Edward Elric. It's a weird idea my friend gave me based off a stuffed animal we saw at a store that looked like a cross between a unicorn, a puppy, and a pony (just read it, you'll understand). Thanks again to **The Mirror Above the Sink** and **Brenne**! You guys are the only reason I'm still writing this!

To **Mirror** : Yeah, Roy won't let go of the thing! I don't really have any hard-core ships in FMA, so this isn't RoyXEd or anything; I just think that Roy is genuinely concerned for Edward. So worry not, his leg is in good hands! (Also, sorry about the cliffhangers, I seem to be incapable of ending a chapter without one!)

To **Brenne** : Lol you're welcome to punch him as much as you want! That guy is eeeeevil!

Al: YOU KILLED BROTHER

Me: I'm sure he's not dead! Right, Ed?

Ed:

Me: Right, Ed?

Ed:

Me: Come on now, who's gonna say the disclaimer if you're dead?

Kai: TheAmbitiousWriter doesn't own Mister Ed or anyone else from Fullmetal Alchemist. She just owns me and my family.

Me: KAIIII

Chapter IV

"W-what happened…?" Ed stammered, looking around. "How did I get here?" He recalled his last few moments of consciousness and gave a violent start. "Wait… no… Don't tell me I'm… dead?" The alchemist shivered.

" _Not yet,_ " an all-too-familiar voice replied, sounding bemused. " _But you cut it awfully close…_ " Edward whipped around to see the white silhouette of Truth standing behind him. " _Young alchemist._ "

"Truth," Ed growled. "You know, I'm seeing an awful lot more of you than I'd like to."

" _I'm surprised too,_ " the being chuckled. " _You've seen more of God than any other human in this universe. Congratulations._ "

"So can you tell me why I'm here? I didn't open the Gate, and I thought the only way to get here was through human transmutation."

" _Well,_ " Truth said quite casually, " _it_ might _have something to do with all that red water inside you._ "

"What?!" Edward nearly choked _._ "Did you say… red water?!"

" _All that red water in your system must have made you awfully sick,_ " the being deadpanned. " _And that combined with the force of the explosion was enough to rip your soul from your body._ "

"What… What are you saying?!" Edward unconsciously raised his voice in panic. "You mean I'm not in my body right now?!"

" _Oh, relax. Your body is still alive, so you should feel your soul being pulled back to it aaaaaany minute._ " Truth grinned. " _You might wanna do something about that red water, though._ "

"How the hell did I even get red water in my system?!" Ed's eyes widened as he remembered the one time he had eaten something, without knowing what was in it, just before he had gotten sick.

When Kara had given him stew.

oOo

"Stand back, Al." Riza gently shoved the armour out of the way and knelt over Ed's lifeless form. She locked her hands and began to rhythmically push on his chest.

"W-what are you doing?"

"CPR," she responded briskly, attention focussed on her task. "Mouth-to-mouth rarely works anyways; it's just for the movies."

Al looked on anxiously as the Lieutenant worked. "Are you sure you should be pushing so hard?" he asked nervously.

"If you don't break a few ribs, you're not doing it right."

Edward suddenly gasped for breath, colour returning to his cheeks. Alphonse was so ecstatic that hugged the nearest person he could find, which happened to be Riza. Ed started coughing furiously, drowning out his brother's cheers.

"A-Al…" he managed, before the coughing resumed. The armour hastened over to his brother's side to provide support.

The younger Elric suddenly gasped. "Brother! Lieutenant, he's…" Alphonse held up the hand he'd been using to support Ed. It was covered with glistening red.

"He's coughing up blood?!" Riza rushed over to the pair, but was halted by a weak shout from Edward.

"Don't touch it! It isn't blood…" He coughed a few more times before continuing. "It's red water."

"Red water?" the Lieutenant repeated, surprised. "Like the stuff you two encountered in Xenotime?"

"Someone poisoned me…" Ed trailed off, as if there were more he wasn't saying. He covered it up by quickly changing the subject. "Wait, am I delirious or is the sky purple?"

"It is," Al noticed. "I didn't see it before; I was too worried about you, Brother."

"It is? Good, I thought that Truth bastard was messing with me some more…" He tried to stand up, before remembering he only had one of his legs with him. Ed clapped, using the metal from the rubble to transmute a rod into a makeshift replacement leg.

"Oh look, I'm a pirate," he mumbled. "Just call me 'Peg-leg'."

"Are you sure you're alright, Brother?"

"What? Can't I be a pirate?" The young alchemist began to hobble towards the centre of town, where the purple lights were converging. "C'mon, crew! I'm Captain Fullmetal and I say we're going mysterious-purple-light-hunting!"

oOo

Kai opened his eyes to find himself tied to a chair. He hadn't been expecting that. Wriggling, he tried to break the bonds, but they were too tight. As he blew hair out of his face in frustration, he suddenly noticed that it was blond.

His hair was black.

The boy managed to turn his head enough to see behind him, glimpsing a head of blond hair pressed against his own. Someone was tied to a chair facing the opposite direction as his, and the two chairs were then bound together.

"Uh… hello?" Kai whispered, fearful of someone overhearing.

"Uh?" the person groaned, coming to. "What happened…? Where am I?" The voice was definitely female, Kai decided. "God! I get a call from the Colonel asking me to have a new leg ready for Ed, I decide to come all the way out to where the idiot is working to make sure he doesn't break anything else, and _this_ is what happens?!"

"Are you the one who made his metal leg?" Kai asked, curious now.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, my name's Winry. And you?"

"Kai. Do you have any idea how we got here…?"

"No more than you, I'm afraid." Their conversation halted abruptly as the ground shook, making bits of plaster rain down from the ceiling. The sliver of sky visible through the skylight above darkened for an instant, then lit up a brilliant purple.

"What the…"

"That looks like alchemy," Winry observed. "Oh, what have I gotten myself into…"

 _Oh, what have I gotten myself into?_ thought Kara, zooming down the dark, narrow hallway. She'd lost Kai at some point, but could do no more than simply hope he was alright.

Finally spotting an exit, she darted out into the daylight, only to slam right into something. Dazed, Kara looked up to see what she had hit. A pair of golden eyes blinked back at her.

"E-Edward?" she stammered.

"You- hold on- you poisoned me, didn't you?" Ed grabbed the front of her shirt angrily. "You put red water in that stew!"

"Red water? But I never did anything to the stew…" A sudden realisation struck her. "Wait! I left it alone for a while, and when I came back, the colour was all reddish!"

"So… it wasn't you…" The Xerxian seemed relieved, releasing Kara's shirt. Wearily, he shot her a small smile, but suddenly started coughing. A red liquid splattered the ground.

"Oh my God… Are you okay?" Kara asked worriedly.

"Drat… I thought I got it all out of my system…" He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, staining the white glove red. "You probably shouldn't touch that," he warned absently. "It's red water; it could poison you."

A sound abruptly split the air. It was the sound of someone crying out in pain. Edward jumped to his feet, recognising the voice.

"Mustang!"

oOo

Ed ran as fast as his haphazard pair of legs would carry him, trying not to imagine the worst. Skidding to a halt in the main plaza, his breath caught in his throat. The seven pillars of purple light converged here, in the very centre of the village. Carved into the ground was one of the most intricate transmutation circles Edward had ever seen, almost as complex as the one for human transmutation. It was glowing bright purple, and standing in the middle of it was a man.

The young alchemist then noticed the figures scattered around the edges of the circle. His mouth fell open. It couldn't be… no way…

"Colonel!" he shouted, voice shaking. "Major…!" The sounds seemed to die in his throat. They couldn't possibly be dead… it just couldn't happen like this…

"Brother?" Al's voice quavered.

"What the hell is this…" Riza froze when she saw the Colonel. Her eyes flicked to the man standing in the circle, and, eyes widening for a fraction of a second, her hand flew to her gun holster. Instead of pulling it out, however, it simply rested there, trembling slightly.

" _The man with hair and eyes of gold, Like that of great Xerxes of old,_ " the man recited. "That's you."

"Says who?" Edward spat.

" _He shall raze this village to the ground, Unless his weakness can be found,_ " the man continued, heedless of the interruption. "And I have that taken care of as well."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Don't think I don't know who you are! You're the one who survived that night, aren't you?!"

"Huh?"

"This prophecy was passed down through village lore for all these years, but it wasn't the only thing! My family has managed to keep it secret all this time, but we _know_ who escaped the destruction of Xerxes!" The man pointed directly at Edward, an insane gleam in his eyes. "You! Van Hohenheim!"

"Hohenheim?" Al questioned.

"You idiot! That's not me!" fumed Ed. "I have _nothing_ in common with that bastard!"

"Lies!" screeched the man. "I know it's true! You destroyed Xerxes trying to become immortal, didn't you? And you succeeded!"

 _Bam._ The sound of flesh being struck with metal. A trickle of blood ran down the man's cheek.

"I dunno what you've got against Hohenheim," Ed said, pulling his automail fist away from the man's face, "but whatever it is, I won't let you drag my friends into it." He shook the blood from his metal fingers.

"You…" spluttered the man, seething.

"IF YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM WITH ME, THEN TAKE IT UP WITH ME!" Edward shouted, eyes blazing. "I FORBID YOU TO INVOLVE INNOCENT PEOPLE!" He glared. "Especially children. _You_ were the one who poisoned that stew, huh?"

"Children?" The man cackled. "I have every right to involve those two!" He smirked. "Kara and Kai are _my_ children."

Ed inhaled sharply. "N-no way…"

"Yes. And they are going to help my plan come to fruition."

oOo

Winry started get worried when she heard Ed shouting. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but the fact that he was shouting was worrisome. Unless it was because someone called him short. She allowed herself a small smile.

The smile vanished as someone entered the room she and Kai were being held in. "Who're you…?" the mechanic asked fearfully. The man said nothing. Slowly and deliberately, he untied Winry from the chair, leaving her wrists bound.

"Get up," he said gruffly.

Winry didn't protest. This was obviously someone who shouldn't be messed with. Leaving Kai behind, the man led her out of the room, down a dark, narrow hallway. The sounds of shouting grew louder.

"Where are we going…" Winry questioned. For an answer, the man shoved her out the door, sending her stumbling forward, unable to use her arms to balance.

"W-Winry?!" she heard someone yell. Was it Edward? "WINRY!"

Before she had the chance to say anything, a glimmering silver knife was held to her throat. Shaking with fear, Winry looked up. There was Edward, sure enough, and Al right beside him. And the Lieutenant was there, too… But… A lump formed in her throat when she saw the unmoving forms laying on the ground around them. On top of a huge alchemy circle.

"Just let her go!" Edward's voice drew her away from this horrific sight. "She has nothing to do with this! She's not even in your dumb prophecy!"

"Ah, but she is," sneered a voice close to Winry's ear. "She's your _weakness_."

"Wha- she- Win-" Ed's face turned a bright shade of red. "No- I mean, she- but-" By now, he was downright purple.

"Brother!" Alphonse jolted him back to reality.

"This prophecy was delivered by God himself!" shouted the man. "It will come to pass!"

"Well, I've met God, and all I can say is, he's a jerk!" Edward made as if to charge the man, but he pressed the knife closer to Winry's neck, and the alchemist hesitated.

"Don't take another step, or she dies."

"Tch!"

"You will cooperate with me!"

Winry knew what was coming next. "Don't do it, Ed!" she screamed.

"Brother…" Al said softly.

"I… I'm sorry, Winry…"

"ED!"

"I don't know what I'd do… if I lost you…" He transmuted his arm, which was in blade form, back to normal.

"Good."

"What would you have me do?"

"See this circle?" Ed nodded. "I want you to activate it."

"And what will that do?"

"You will see." Edward stepped up to the edge of the circle. He slowly brought both hands together, forming a circle.

 _Clap._

"I want you guys to get out of here," he said over his shoulder. "If anything were to happen to me-"

"We're not going to leave you, Brother!"

"Dammit Al, just do what I say for once!" The armour stood firm. Realising he was not going to get anywhere, Ed sighed deeply. He kneeled, bringing his hands down to touch the circle. They froze a centimetre above the ground, shaking.

"What am… what am I about to transmute? Tell me that, at least…"

"You, Xerxian… You're going to bring back my Kate."

"Human… transmutation…?"

"No, Brother, you can't!"

"I won't let you do this, Ed!" Winry sobbed. "I would rather die than let you sacrifice everything you have left!"

"The same goes for me!" Ed shouted back. "But what do I do…? If I don't do it, Winry dies… And if I do, I'll be giving up everything Al and I worked so hard to accomplish…"

"Please! Don't do this, Ed!"

"Al! As soon as I've finished, I want you to take Winry and get out of here! You got that?"

"Brother-"

"You got that?!"

"No! I won't let this happen- not again-" Alphonse lunged forward, desperately reaching out in the hopes of preventing his brother from once more committing the ultimate taboo.

Winry wasn't entirely sure what happened next. It was just a blur of colour and sound that engulfed her like a river.

 _Slap._

An explosion of purple. An all-too-familiar scream of pain. It was one of the brothers- but was it Ed or Al?

"...how _could_ you..."

"...get out of here!"

"...too late…"

Someone picked her up and started running. A noise throbbed at the back of Winry's skull, and she moaned in complaint. Gradually, the adrenaline faded, and she began to come to her senses again.

"E-Ed?" she stammered.

"No, it's me," corrected Al's voice. "Don't worry… I'll get you out of here…"

"B-but… what a-about Ed…"

The armour remained silent.

"Al! W-where's Edward?"

He said nothing, but the choked sob that echoed within his helmet was all Winry needed.

"ED!" she screamed, struggling against Al's strong grip. "EDWARD!"

"Winry… Please…" Alphonse tried.

"But I… She broke off, shaking from sobs. "I-I never got to tell him… how I feel…"

oOo

Me: That's all, folks! End o' chapter!

Winry: EDDDDD

Me: Oh, sorry.

Winry: *hits TheAmbitiousWriter over the head with a wrench*

Ed: I'm alive!

Winry: *hits Ed over the head with a wrench*

Don't forget to review! Right now, this story is only here for **The Mirror Above the Sink** and **Brenne** , so please, please review! Reviews are love! 3


	5. Chapter 5

I'm soooo sorry for making you guys wait so long! I had to write an essay... then I had to write another essay... then I slept for days... But I'm back now! Yaaay! Sorry about the chapter's shortness, but I'll try to update soon to make it up to you!

To **Another Obsessed Teen** : Aww, thanks! Congrats on being the first new reviewer since my ever-faithful ones **Mirror** and **Brenne**! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

To **DeaththeKidbemine9** : I know, he is, isn't he? Lol and I know what you mean about pressing the button too soon... and then it's there forever...

To **The Mirror Above the Sink** : I'm sorry! *hides behind Ed* It's a habit I can't seem to break... cliffhangers... and as for my pacing, I get bored easily and then I just have something blow up. :P There's probably a long way to go before I finish, so don't worry! Now, for the chapter... ah...

Ed: Wait, did I die?

Me: You'll see.

Ed: Hey! We're talking about my life here!

Me: Just read it and see.

Ed: C'mon! Even Hiromu Arakawa works faster than you!

Al: Well, they _are_ the one who owns Fullmetal Alchemist.

Me: Did… did you just sneak the disclaimer past me?!

Ed: Uh… no…

oOo

Chapter V

" _No! I won't let this happen― not again―" Al lunged forward, trying to get to Ed before he could once again commit the ultimate taboo. He wasn't quite in time._

 _Slap._

 _It was the sound of Ed colliding with the cobblestones. Kai had tackled him at the last second, preventing him from activating the circle. At the same time, Kara wrenched the knife that was being held to Winry's throat out of her father's grip. The mechanic fell to her knees, unaware of what was going on around her as she went into shock._

" _What are you doing?" Ed shouted. "This is dangerous―!"_

" _We know!" Kai shouted back, joining his sister in the fight._

" _Brother!" Alphonse pulled Edward into a hug. "How_ could _you- you scared me half to death!"_

" _What? You didn't honestly think I was actually going to― Never mind that! You need to get Winry out of here!"_

" _Huh?"_

" _Please, Al!" The armour had more sense than to argue. He scooped up Winry, who was still unresponsive, and started for the edge of the village. He stopped, however, and looked back uncertainly―_

" _Get out of here!" Ed yelled. "I can handle it!" He turned to Riza. "Lieutenant, you should go too. Take the Colonel."_

" _But what about you? What if you―"_

" _It's too late to think about that now. Just GO!"_

 _The armour clanked away, closely followed by the blond-haired Lieutenant. Winry moaned softly in Al's arms, finally coming to her senses._

" _E-Ed?"_

" _No, it's me," Alphonse corrected. "Don't worry, Winry. I'll get you out of here, just hold on."_

" _B-but… what a-about Ed…" Al wasn't sure how to respond. He had no idea what was happening with Edward at the moment, all he knew was he'd been told to get Winry away from here, likely meaning that Ed was planning something and he didn't want Winry close to it._

" _Al! W-where's Edward?" She sounded desperate. But still, Al didn't know what to say. He honestly didn't know if Brother was alright. For all he knew… Ed could be… At that thought, Al couldn't stop a sob from echoing through his empty helmet._

" _ED!" screamed Winry. "EDWARD!" She struggled to escape his firm hold._

" _Winry… please…" Al tried to calm her down, but she would not have it._

" _But I…" Winry's voice cracked with emotion. "I-I never got to tell him how I feel…"_

" _I'm sure… I know that Brother's going to be fine," Alphonse said at last. "He's survived much worse―" The armour was cut off when he abruptly slammed into an invisible barrier and was flung backwards. Winry landed a few metres away with a pained grunt._

" _Al? What happened?"_

" _There's some kind of barrier here…" Al stood up and walked over to the spot. There didn't appear to be anything there. Stretching out a glove, he reached out and touched it, causing purple electricity to flare up and reveal a transparent purple bubble stretching around the entire village._

" _Is it alchemy?"_

" _Yes… but not any kind that I've ever seen before…"_

" _So we're trapped here?"_

" _I think so― Winry!" The mechanic was running back toward the centre of town. "What are you doing?"_

" _I'm going to help Ed!" Her eyes gleamed with new conviction. "I_ know _he's still alive― he has to be!"_

" _Wait! Winry!"_

" _I'm coming, Ed!"_

oOo

"All your research, father… was for _this?_ " Kara blinked back tears as she thought about her mother. "This isn't what she would _want!_ "

"How would you know?!" the man raged. "Kate was precious to me― I swore I would bring her back, no matter the cost! And if I could have gotten that Xerxian to perform the transmutation, I might have succeeded!"

"The prophecy didn't say anything about mom! Why―" Kara had to stop talking as she ducked to avoid a deadly blow from her father.

"What the hell is this prophecy, anyway?" seethed Edward, diverting the man's attention to allow Kara to scramble away. His only response was swiping at the young alchemist with his knife, forcing Ed to jump backwards in order to avoid injury.

"You want to know it? Very well!

 _The man with hair and eyes of gold,_

 _Like that of great Xerxes of old._

 _He shall raze this village to the ground,_

 _Unless his weakness can be found._

 _For this Xerxian's power is second to none,_

 _When it comes to the art in which his sorrow runs_

 _Deeper than tears in an ocean of blood,_

 _He shall raise up that which was lost from the mud._

 _You who think you have found the light,_

 _Oppose him not, ere you sink into night._ "

The man's voice rang out cold and clear against the cobblestones. When he had finished, all remained silent, trying to take in the meaning of the cryptic message.

"Do you really believe that rubbish?" Edward finally asked, stepping forward and spreading his hands to emphasise his point. "It's ridicu―"

 _Splatter._

The pavement was painted red. Time froze.

 _What just happened?_ Edward thought. _I feel strange…_ He looked down.

Silver?

A knife, sticking out of his stomach.

 _Now, I'm sure that wasn't there before…_

"EDWARD!"

"NO! ED!"

Kara and Kai's voices. They sounded far-off, distant.

 _This just isn't my day, huh?_ The ground seemed to come up to meet him. _This probably hurts… I'm glad I'm so full of adrenaline…_

"E-Edward?"

Winry's voice.

Winry.

Winry…?

Didn't Al take her and leave? Why was she still here?

"You idiot! Don't you dare die! I still have to kill you for wrecking my automail!"

 _Winry, you need to go!_

 _Huh? My voice isn't working._

 _Winry, where's Al?_

 _Can't speak…_

 _My vision's going blurry…_

 _You look really pretty in this light… Winry…_

 _Am I dying?_

 _No, of course you're not dying. You still have to return Al's body to normal, remember?_

 _Great, I'm talking to myself now._

 _Ed, what are you talking about?_

 _Huh?_

 _It's me. Winry._

 _Are you inside my head?_

 _Ed, are you alright? You're talking nonsense._

 _I… Winry…_

"Ed, are you sure you're okay?" Winry's voice stabbed into his consciousness. It sounded… _different,_ somehow.

"He's still in pain from the surgery, let him be, Winry," said a different voice. Was that Granny Pinako? This was too confusing. He forced his eyes open and wished he hadn't as a harsh light blinded him. Everything _hurt._ Especially the stumps of his arm and leg.

"Ed!" Winry exclaimed happily. Edward turned his head slightly to look at her and was startled to see how _young_ she looked- her blond hair was much shorter and her face rounder, not to mention height. Maybe he was finally taller than her!

"Winry? Where am I?" His own voice sounded just as strange- much higher-pitched than usual.

"Huh? You're in Resembool, Ed… Are you _sure_ you're alright?"

"Resembool? But I was with you and Al… in the village…"

"Probably a dream. The automail surgery must have been pretty painful."

" _Automail surgery?_ "

"Uh, yeah. Duh." Edward started panicking. What was happening? Why did Winry look so much younger? How had he gotten back to Resembool? And why did every one of his nerves feel like it was on fire?

Cold realisation dawned. "W-Winry?"

"Yeah?"

"What year is it?"

"1910. Why?"

"G-get me a mirror!"

"Okay… weirdo…" She grabbed a small, handheld mirror off a nearby table and handed it to him. Ed gasped at the reflection he saw.

He was _eleven_ again.

Short hair, round, young face, and worst of all-

"DAMMIT! I'M SHORT AGAIN!"

oOo

Me: *is too tired to write anything down here*

Ed: I'm sure if TheAmbitiousWriter were awake, they'd tell you to review.

Al: Yup. Probably something like, "Don't forget to review! If you do I'll chop you up and feed you to Envy!"

Ed: ... You scare me sometimes, little brother...


	6. Chapter 6

So... I, uh, haven't updated in a while... PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I've been busy with summer camp... But I'm here now! Hooray! I apologise for the ridiculously short chapter (ha ha, like Ed), but I had writer's block to crown it all. Plus I was reading all those tweets insulting Donald Trump... I must say, the Scottish have quite the vocabulary of insults! I wish I were that creative... (I say in a fanfiction)

To **The Mirror Above the Sink** : No, it doesn't... since we're all bad people. :P Humanity needs some work...

To l **ilaclily00** : Yeah, I wrote that one really spontaneously based off of a prompt my friend gave me... Dunno why I posted it, really, but there it is. Also, yay! Every "another reviewer" is my reason for writing!

To **LuckyKittens** : Well, Truth does love to screw around with Ed... But you shall see, you shall see... *smirk*

To **Attackoneverything** : Uwah, you found this story too? I'm a little embarrassed... This really isn't my best work, especially compared to **Unforgettable**... But I do hope you enjoy!

Me: Okaaaay! Now for more of my rubbish that you guys think is good!

Mustang: It wouldn't be rubbish if you wrote more about me. (alsoTheAmbitiousWriterownsnothing)

Me: But you're useless.

Mustang: *is once again hit in the head with the word 'useless'*

Me: And that, my friend, is for once again sneaking in the disclaimer while I'm not looking.

oOo

Chapter VII

"Well, what height did you expect you'd be?" Winry deadpanned. "You'd probably grow more if you _drank your milk―_ "

"That's not what I'm talking about! Where's Al?" Ed demanded, ignoring the pain that shot through him every time he moved.

"Brother!" called the aforementioned armour, slamming the door open. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, other than the fact that suddenly, I'm eleven again! What's going on?"

"Uh, Ed? Are you okay?" asked Winry, puzzled. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean, a minute ago I was fifteen! And Al was fourteen!"

"I'm ten, brother." Al said gently. "It was probably a dream―"

"It was no dream! The Colonel ordered me to check out that village across the desert― but I missed the train coming back― and then my train _blew up_ ― and I… I…" Edward trailed off, realising that his story sounded like the rant of a madman. "Do you believe me?"

"Well… you've just gone through automail surgery, Ed…" Winry's tone made it clear that she didn't believe a word. "The pain probably confused your brain…"

"Dammit! I know it was real!" Edward tried to get up, but the pain was excruciating.

"What are you doing?! Don't try to move yet!" Winry shoved him back onto the bed. "Sheesh… Do you really think you'll be able to finish rehabilitation in only a year?"

"I've done it once before; shouldn't be too hard the second time. I bet I could do it in six months."

"Six _months?!_ "

"But I _won't_ be doing rehabilitation, because I'm going back to 1914 where I'm supposed to be! Winry's in danger!"

"Ed, I'm right here."

"Not you! _My_ Winry!" He closed his eyes. "The real one…" Without even noticing he was doing so, he drifted off to sleep.

"The real one?" asked Alphonse quietly. "What do you think he meant?"

"I'm sure he's just confused. He'll be better tomorrow." Winry flipped off the light and started to leave. "C'mon, Al."

With a last look at his brother, the armour turned and left.

oOo

When Edward woke up again, he was almost as confused as the first time. It took him a few moments to remember where he was, or rather, _when_ he was. Upon some inspection, he discovered a note on the side table: _Gone shopping. Out of milk for stew. Back around noon._ ― _Winry_

Stew… stew sounded amazing right about now. Without even thinking about it, Ed swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand up.

That didn't work too well.

Pain shot through his automail port and he gasped, falling back onto the bed. He'd forgotten… drat, how was he supposed to get anywhere like this?

 _Huh?_

That was strange. The area that hurt the most… wasn't his automail, but… his stomach? He put a hand to the area in question and hissed in pain. His hand came away red with blood.

 _What's going on?_

"EDWARD!" someone yelled. Ed glanced around but the room was empty. "Ed… _Ed!_ "

"Ed?" Winry put a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"I… what… When did you get back?"

"A few minutes ago. I came in to check on you and you were just sitting there, staring into space with a weird look on your face― Is that _blood?_ " she shrieked suddenly. "What did you _do?_ "

"I-I don't know! I just tried to stand up…"

"You idiot!" Winry smacked him across the back of his head, not hard enough to hurt, really, but enough to make him feel chagrined.

"Uh… sorry…?"

"You'd better be sorry! You can't go overdoing it like that…" Winry sighed. "If you want to go somewhere, I'll help you."

"I don't need your help, Gearhead."

"Just shut up and let me do something for you, Alchemy Freak!"

Edward remained silent, a blush slowly creeping across his cheeks. "O-okay…" he said finally. "I guess so."

Winry smiled.

Ed started to smile back, but stopped suddenly, confused. He could see Winry smiling, but… he could also see her crying. He blinked and the image was gone.

"Are you _sure_ you're okay, Ed?" questioned Winry, concerned.

"F-fine." He looked down at his midsection, but the blood was gone. "Can you help me to the kitchen?"

"Sure thing. You hungry?"

"Yeah."

Using Winry as a crutch, Edward made his way slowly to the kitchen, and sank gratefully into the chair he was sure was taller than the others (as he had raised it using alchemy a long time ago and made sure he always sat in it).

"Alright! I shall make stew!" decided Winry, pulling on the apron she kept hanging up next to the oven she had built. "I do have milk now…"

"Do you even know how to make stew?" groaned Edward.

"Of course I do! Cooking is a science, like building automail! I just need a recipe…" She trailed off, hunting for Granny Pinako's cookbook. Ed leaned back in his chair, figuring this was going to take a while.

A bolt of unexpected pain shot through him and he nearly doubled over. What was going _on?_ Why…

 _A silver knife, sticking out of his stomach._

Ed gasped. But… but how could that pain have followed him here? Unless he wasn't really here.

"Stew's done!" Winry exclaimed brightly, setting the steaming bowl down in front of him.

"What? That quickly? It's only been a few minutes."

"Ed, it's been almost an hour." She frowned at him. "Do you want me to get Granny? You aren't looking too well…"

"Neither would you, if you had been spontaneously thrown back in time." muttered Ed.

"You're still saying that?" She turned and left, presumably to fetch Granny.

"Edward! Please, stay with us!" sobbed a voice. Ed whirled around, just to face an empty room yet again. "Just hold on!

He clutched a hand to his golden head. "Who are you?! Why… why do I keep hearing you?!"

"Ed! Snap out of it!" shouted Pinako. Wide-eyed, Edward slowly focussed on the old woman. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Ed replied softly. "I think I might be dreaming."

"Then go to sleep, you look exhausted―"

"No, that's not what I meant." He took a deep breath. "I think _this_ is the dream."

"What?"

"And I think I'm dying."

oOo

"E-Edward?" Winry breathed, horrified. No… This couldn't be happening… No! Trying not to look, she yanked the knife out of his stomach and tossed it to the side. "You idiot! Don't you dare die! I still have to kill you for wrecking my automail!" she sobbed, throwing her arms around his limp, bloody form. Kara made a small noise in her throat, like a whimper, and Kai hid behind her, clutching at her clothes.

Ed's unfocused golden eyes stared up at her uncomprehendingly. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out. He looked confused. Shaking, Winry tore off a piece of her coat and started to bind the wound.

"H-hey… Winry…" he rasped, startling her. "You look… really pretty in this light…" His hand, which she had been grasping tightly, suddenly went slack and fell out of her relaxed grip. Golden orbs, staring up at nothing, went blank.

"EDWARD!" she screamed. "Ed… _Ed!_ " She quickly checked his pulse; it was weak, but it was there, thank goodness.

"Brother!" shouted Al, rushing over. "Winry, is he…?"

"He's alive," Winry sighed in relief. "He needs treatment as soon as possible…" She glanced over at Major Armstrong, who had rushed in at the last minute and was doing battle with Kara and Kai's father (complete with battle sparkles).

"C'mon, Ed…" Al knelt next to his brother. "I know you can do this, Edward! Please stay with us! Just hold on!"

Edward didn't wake up, but his breathing seemed to ease.

"W-Winry…"

It was so soft, barely even a whisper. But she heard it.

"I-I think…" He coughed, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "I-I'm dying…"

"Not on my watch, Alchemy Freak!" Something caught her eye. A red liquid, dripping from the edges of the knife.

"Don't tell me…"

"Winry? What is it?"

"Drat, the knife, Al! I can't believe I didn't see it sooner! This isn't a normal wound, but I think I know what to―"

Something struck the back of Winry's head, _hard._ She blacked out instantly, the information that would save Edward's life still of the tip of her tongue.

oOo

Me: Uh… Well… That happened…

Ed: I hate you.

Me: That's justified.

Al: Uh... I don't know what's going on, but... review?


End file.
